Apple is selling a lot of iPhones. But in the hopes of boosting sales during the holiday season, Apple has chosen to push old users to buy the new iPhone 6s, and that too in a not-so-subtle way. Many iPhone users have reported that unwelcome pop-up ads are being displayed within the Apple App Store, urging them to upgrade to the newest iPhone model.
How Do These Annoying Ads Happen?
The ads aim to promote the iPhone 6s. Full-screen interactive ads show up as soon as the App Store is launched and they are reportedly targeting iPhone owners using a device older than the iPhone 6. The text on the full-screen ad image reads “iPhone 6s Ridiculously Powerful”. Below the image, users get to choose between two options; “Learn More” or “Upgrade”. In order to close the ad, users have to tap the “Skip” button placed at the very top of the ad.
iPhone Users are Not Amused
Users’ dissatisfied reaction to these ads was initially reported by the Cult of Mac. Most users have taken the matter to social media, sharing images of the ads and stating their dissatisfaction when faced by these ads. Many iPhone owners have started discussing the matter on Reddit. Apple leveraging its own App Store to deliver ads has been taken very negatively.
Apple recently introduced ad blocking to its operating system in iOS 9. The feature allows users to limit the amount of advertising they become exposed to when their devices are connected online. The ad-blocker service also works to improve user experience by blocking content that slows down browsing. It’s ironic that the company chose to prioritise user experience by blocking ads and then started pushing them down users’ throats with these intrusive ads.
Is this the First Instance of Apple Prioritizing its Products over Others?
It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t the first time Apple has stooped so low that it uses one of its own services to make the users buy (or use) another one. Apple has done this with its iTunes store for quite some time and even tried it with the new Apple Music. Apple tried using the App Store search to promote its own apps as well. The built-in search promoted Apple Maps over Google Maps and repeated this for the rest of Apple’s app catalogue.
In short, Apple has used such measures before and won’t abstain from trying them out again when it comes to promoting its own products. That being said, it’s still the most aggressive approach that Apple has ever taken.
As of now, it’s unclear whether the pop-up has something to do with the latest iOS 9.2 update, specific regions, markets or just specific devices. Whatever the case, Apple has caused quite a lot of commotion, yet again, due to one of its services.
